1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microscope devices.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-259914, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In a type of conventionally known microscope device, a plurality of devices for observation or stimulation are provided, and on a reference image including a sample, such as a cell, and acquired by one device, a region where the sample is to be stimulated or observed with another device is specified (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications, Publication No. 2007-148223 and Publication No. 2006-171024). In a microscope device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2007-148223, two scanners are provided, one for observation and one for stimulation, and it is possible to specify an observation region or a stimulation region on a prescanned image acquired in advance. On the other hand, in a microscope device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2006-171024, on an image acquired by a CCD, it is possible to specify a measurement region where a pattern of illuminating light is cast by a DMD and spectral detection is performed with a PMT.
However, in the microscope devices described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications, Publication No. 2007-148223 and Publication No. 2006-171024, the maximum field of view is the same among the devices. If the maximum field of view varies among the devices, the observation region of a device with a large maximum field of view is restricted by a device with a small maximum field of view. This results in a disadvantage that the available field of view is not fully utilized.
That is, when an attempt is made to specify a region on a reference image with the maximum field of view varying among the devices, if the maximum field of view of a device with which the reference image is acquired is larger than the maximum field of view of a device with which the region is specified, sometimes there exists an area that cannot be specified on the reference image. In such cases, a reference image must be reacquired in accordance with the desired region, which reduces working efficiency.